Find a proper job in Berlin

As of 2016, Berlin had an unemployment rate of around 10% overall compared to the 5% in Germany on average. You might think it’s still doable to find a job in Berlin but those statistics are also counting the infamous mini-jobs and nebenjobs that are widespread in Germany.

The thing is: it is not that difficult to find a job in Berlin.

Yep, I said it!

What is really difficult is to find a stable and decent one that is calling out to your education field. I have seen several people come to Berlin to enjoy its sweet life, stay for about 1 year and a half; and leave again because they didn’t have money anymore. It is apparently symptomatic of a city that is counts numerous underfunded start-ups & little money for the art scene.

The key to a proper job in Berlin is…

I will give you however a little secret of mine, the key to a durable career in Berlin. You won’t get away with it: you need to master German!

You need to speak German fluently to find a job in Berlin.Sure you will be able to English-speaking jobs in cool companies, but that won’t get you too far at some point.

The first reason for that is that there are many overqualified foreigners like you applying for the same jobs. And even if you get the position, you won’t be able to progress within the company. I am sure that there are plenty of people out there that got their jobs in Berlin without peeping a word of German! But on the long-run, those people are likely to hit a glass ceiling and his/her colleague who spoke German got the long deserved promotion.

The Door to Success : German

The reason I’m telling you all this is that the key decision makers are almost always German people. They make the decisions, hire or fire and set-up strategies. If you are not able to play on the same level with them, it won’t be possible to eventually convince them that you are the good manager for the Berlin unit. Another valid reason beyond promotion and career is that not speaking German might negatively impact on your salary.

Now if you are planning to stay only a little while, it might not be necessary to learn German to find a job in Berlin. You might not find the best fitting one or the best pay, but it will be enough to pay your rent and parties.

The best places to look to find a job in Berlin depending on your industry & skills

You are young and hungry for experience, it might be why you came to Berlin: for its vivid start-up scene. Berlin has impressively raised up its profile and it is now known as true hub in Europe. Start-ups provide a lot of opportunities and are usually a lot more flexible concerning German skills. Showing motivation and spirit is often key. Money is sometimes not great but that can change quickly if you do well. Online Marketing, business intelligence, product management, sales & customer support know-hows are often what they are looking for.

You can also check the major venture’s websites that constantly looking for fresh blood for new ventures. Turnover can be quite high in those ventures but you will get plenty of responsibilities & experience and learn a lot in a very short time.

The following placement companies can also help you if you work in e-commerce or online marketing. They work for companies which search specific profiles for a position. You send them a CV and go through an interview, and they call you when they have a match. They get paid by the company with successful placements.

If you have graphic design skills, those website are a good starting points. Berlin is a great place for graphic designers. Each start-up more or less needs one. In that case, to know a bit about HTML & CSS is often a big plus :

If you are an IT rock star, you won’t have much trouble finding a job in Berlin. Thanks to the many web based start-ups, you can hope for a good situation here, even if you don’t speak German at all. In addition to all the generic websites, you have those:

If you are more of a creative type and want to find something in the arts, dance, music, film or theater industry, you might want to have a look at those websites. Competition is tough but the scene is very vivid and full of opportunities.

Don’t forget the listings like:

How to make sure your are getting a fair salary offer:

Don’t sell yourself short by doing your research on how much you should ask when negotiating your salary. I have made a dedicated post on how much you should get paid in Berlin this way. This is an important step to getting a job you are excited about. Added to that: don’t forget that rent prices have increased much quicker than salary levels in Berlin; the excuse that some employers used (“You should decrease your expectations because the city is cheaper than where you come from.) is now more and more obsolete.

How to make sure the company you applied for offers a good work environment:

One of the trends that came with web 2.0 is the ability to leave reviews for pretty much anything on the web. What started on Amazon products has expanded to local shops, tourist attractions, services or hotels. Companies and employers did not escape that trend and platforms have emerged to provide insider information on what it is really like to work there. You can access testimonies by former/current employees or people that applied to some jobs. Although reviews are by nature biased, they can give you a good idea of what’s it like. If you are interested head to:

Alternatively, you can also try to search for former employees on Facebook groups above or via a quick Linkedin search and ask there.

Tip 1 : I really can’t state that enough : to find a job in Berlin, you need to learn German. Please do invest some time in the language! If you need some guidance on this topic too, you might be interested in this article.

Tip 2 : Improve your chance to find a job by signing up for a profile on Xing. It is the German equivalent for LinkedIn or Viadeo. Xing has also a job board of its own with many job offers that cannot be found elsewhere. Having a profile there also allows to do better networking and shows that you are proactive to integrate the local job market. Interface can be switched to English. It is a must-have for anyone being serious about their work profile in Germany. It’s totally worth 2 min of your time to get started.

Good luck. 🙂

86 Comments

Another job board you should try is Lunar Careers – https://lunarcareers.com – you can easily discover jobs in Berlin where only English is required (or where German is a nice-to-have), matched to your skills, growth interests and preferences. Good luck! 🙂

Disclosure: Co-Founder here. I would definitely appreciate it, if you’d consider adding us to the above list. Thanks!

I am a graduating student from outside of EU and will be done with my studies in May 2018. I have been searching for a job in Berlin since September 2017, and it has been really challenging. I have lived in Berlin for sometime before, and I can speak German fluently. My applications are all submitted in German, but they don’t seem to be working.

I am half the mind of applying for the Job Seekers visa and venturing into Berlin for half a year. Do you think it will work out? I am very discouraged at the point in time, but am still determined to make this work. Do you have any advise?

great website with a lot of information…… I am from Kenya a recent graduate in mining engineering and I want to move to Berlin bt I heard it hard to get a job there without a master…is it true?and can I find a mining job in Germany?

Hi, Bastien! Do you have any suggestions for professional translators? I speak English, German and Spanish. I have a Spanish passport, eventhough I grew up in Latin America. I have experience teaching German and working as freelancer doing subtitles. However, it seems like Germans expect you to have a master (I don’t have one). I only get offers for call-centers.

Hi there! Great post and very helpful information! I will drop a question if you let me so. As far as I know in Germany there is a relatively high demand for Mechanical Engineers but I am not very aware of the demand in Berlin, is it possible to find a position as Mechanical Engineer in Berlin? I still don’t know much German (Almost anything at all). Thank you very much!

Hi, First I would like to thank you for this wonderful website with so much useful information. Keep up the good work. I need an advice on “job seeker/ work visa”. I am a recent graduate from a German university, found a job and got the “anmeldung”. I have to start the job from September, but there is no visa appointment till September end. I heard from friends about an option of getting a temporary visa or a certificate/letter from visa office Berlin. The letter I can show to my employer and this would allow me to start the work. Is there any provision of temporary visa/letter? and what is the German name of this document. Thanks in advance!

I’m planning to move to Berlin in October this year, with the idea of working in an organic food store, or any store with sustainable values and products I can fully support, since I have had a pretty solid experience working in this field in France. Seeing as apparently a lot of people go to Berlin to work in startups and the like, I have little to no idea of how it is to work in stores as a foreigner. That might also mean that it’s an easy kind of job to get, since that doesn’t seem to be one people seek when settling in Berlin…

Really good article, with lots of helpfull information. As I am in the natural science field of work, I can recommend you the side https://jobtensor.com. They are specialist on natural science and engineering jobs and have a lot of vacancies in Berlin. Also available in english language. Maybe you can add in your list as I missed a bit the science area 🙂 Thanks

Hello! First of all, thanks for your website and the hard work you must have put in this, i’m glad there is a website like yours, it helped me for many things so thank you!! I have a question regarding self employed job: is it possible to be freiberufler and have a gewerbe statut at the same time? Everywhere it says that you have to choose, but i want to work as a freelancer AND have my small artisanal company (both are artistic)… and i can’t find any answer about it on how i can register for this kind of status, if its possible to cumulate these two… thanks a lot!!

Hi, Just moved to Berlin and I work in hospitality, I hear you need a red card licence to work in the industry – do you know where I can get this? Also I have really appreciated your page do you have a donation page to keep it going – really helpful to anyone moving here x

Hi Alice. A short research made me land on this page which explains how to get this in Berlin. It seems to be some sort of permit proving that you are not contagious and that you are allowed to work with food products with no risks for your patients/customers. There is a donation page this way :). Thanks for that!

Hey im from an asian country. Im doing a course of chartered accountancy i plan to learn german and give its ielts. My current qualification is alevels subjects accounts/economics/english language. So can i get proper job of accounting in berlin!

Hi, thanks for all the invaluable info. Do you have any recommendations on CV formats? I’ve found the basics but one controversy is whether to provide personal interest and hobbies as it is in some german templates. Thanks!

Hi Stela. Wether or not you apply for german companies or international ones, it is fine to indicate a few personal details like those. It can grasp the interest of the recruiter and give him/her material to interview you one, to see how you talk about things you are passionate about. It also helps to stand out but just one or two lines will do.

Hello,I am a lawyer from Venezuela and I will be applying for a student visa to study German for at least 6 monthts, and with the mentioned visa I am only allowed to work for 120 full or 240 half days per year. Do you think I could pay the bills in Berlin working only this hours? What kind of jobs would you recommend me if I only speak Spanish and English… I know a few words in German but i Believe is not enough… Thank you for your help…

Hi Paola. I guess it depends on how well paid this job will be. It’s more or less a part-time job so it will probably cover the rent a bit more maybe. Hard to say from here. There are lot of start-ups catering the Spanish markets in Berlin, maybe you can find something there in customer support or sales.

Hi. Thanks a lot for your info. I am a system Engineer having around 2 years experience in IT and now i am planning to move to Berlin from India for job search. I don’t no German so How is the system Engineer/ System Administrator opening in Berlin? Any idea!!.

Awesome post, so so true about learning German. For anyone looking for PR and Marketing jobs in Berlin, I started this Facebook group while I was job hunting in Berlin because I wanted to share the love and help others find jobs too. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/934989843180264/

Fantastic source! Thank you very much for this. I moved to Berlin just over a month ago with good understanding but less perfect speaking knowledge of german language. I am learning left and right (mostly via apps, but still). I am now strugeling to get a job. Fair to say that my lack of language is my main handicap because when in Rome.. or in Berlin in this case.

Would you recommend any site for english speaking mini jobs? I have to pay my bills somehow and the clock is ticking.

Sorry bud but you’re wrong. Iv been living in Germany for two years with sadly minimal language skills and have found acquiring jobs here easier than in the UK. One call center paying 22.000 per year and now working as a sound engineer for 12 euro per hour.

Hello! I think you are my savior! I am planning to move to Berlin but I speak only some low-level rusty German! I intend to learn the language in time but for now i just need to go to Berlin and just find a simple job (preferably office job) in English! I am Greek,I have a bachelor in social politics and i think I’m good at English too.. i have friends there and i also intend to take a masters degree course on Jan. 2016. But first I need a job! I am desperate for an English speaking job! I would be deeply grateful if you could give me your lights! Thank you in advance! Vicky

Hello there Thank you very much for this useful website . I am an IT Expert , and I have many expereinces in teaching Math , Computer , I have Network+ , MCITP , Security+ , Storage + , Vmware , Virtualization CERTIFICATIONS . How can I find a good job in Berlin , english is not my native language , but I am very good at it , and now I am starting to learn Germman , I am waiting for your answer . thank you

thank you very much for this incredible website! my dream is to move to berlin, hopefully i’ll make it next semester 😉 i’ve been studying german for 6 months now and of course there’s still a lot to learn, but i’m very optimistic! can’t wait to master it 🙂 anyways your posts are very useful. thanks!!

Hi. I’m non-native speaker of English. I have degree on bachelor of “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” . and I have some basic German laguage skill. Can i find a suitable job in berlin as English teacher?

It’s quite risky because a lot of people offer to teach English even if that’s not their main occupation. There is certainly abundance of offer for the current demand. That’s not so much your german skills that is the problem here but more how much offer there is here for that service.

hey ! what about hospitality, hotels, hostels and stuff. i will need some extra money to cover my rent beside playing in a small band. do you think i will need to speak a perfect German for this sort of job ?

I left the tourism industry out because i’m not really knowledgeable about it. By definition, if you are dealing with tourists, it’s likely that you won’t need a perfect german. Any other language than english is a plus and as stated in this article, german is needed in the long run.

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